Maine and global warming linked

Al Gore has done more for our country and the rest of our planet then he ever did as vice president. His book and movie “An Inconvenient Truth” finally and incontrovertibly have made the case we scientists have been talking about for years. We failed to convince the public and the politicians about the significance of global warming; Gore succeeded.

I don’t think even the most strident politician and developer can disagree with the conclusions: global warming is the most important and difficult problem mankind has ever faced. The entire civilized world is based on the consumption of CO2 (carbon dioxide) producing fossil energy: coal, oil and natural gas.

Mankind spent the entire 19th and 20th centuries building worldwide dependency on limited fossil energy resources. The 21st century will be spent weaning us from these sources of energy. We have been greedily extracting and burning coal, oil and natural gas, which had lain dormant since the formation of the earth, all the while producing

CO2 and warming our planet.

Oil and gas prices will creep to $5 a gallon, and possibly higher, before the end of this decade particularly since we can’t seem to bring a lasting peace to the part of the world with large remaining oil deposits. If nothing else forces us to address the global

warming problem higher prices certainly will.

No thinking person should be surprised by our present predicament. My grandfather recalled a time in Maine when only small amounts of oil were necessary to operate a subsistence farm. Will we return to those olden days? I doubt it, but there is no question that our mind set will have to change. At the end of this century rural states like Maine may have the advantage of being able to subsist with less fossil energy use whereas

heavily populated urban areas will not. I believe Maine can be part of the solution and not continue to exacerbate the problem.

Every decision we make from here on out must be made in light of increased CO2 production and the source and use of energy. No longer will we be able to separate environmental issues and energy related global warming. No longer can we remove hydro dams in Maine because they possibly harm fish populations. No longer can we permit developments without evaluating their source and use of energy and resulting CO2 contribution.

No longer can we afford to listen to hysterical opponents of nuclear power, who successfully advocated shutting down Maine Yankee, and ignore the fact that nuclear power contributes no CO2 to the atmosphere and can supply electric energy now generated by CO2 emitting fossil-fueled fired electric power plants.

No longer can we build fossil fuel (gas, oil or coal) fired electric power plants without considering the alternatives. No longer can we postpone imposing significantly higher mileage standards for all cars and trucks. No longer can we build bigger and bigger houses without considering the energy source of the heating and air conditioning system.

In short, every decision we make in Maine and around the world will have to be considered in light of our warming planet and the source and use of energy necessary to maintain our way of life.

Richard de Grasse is a retired electrical engineer and former founder and CEO of Control Electric Corp. He lives on Islesboro.